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Preview: Everything you need to know about the World Para Taekwondo Championships

on 18-10-2017 16:12

Para taekwondo is a new Paralympic sport and the World Para Taekwondo Championships will be an opportunity to see Britain’s finest in action as they begin their journeys to Tokyo 2020.

A five-strong team will represent Great Britain at the Copper Box with world number one Amy Truesdale leading the charge for medals.

Truesdale has been crowned European champion three times in a row and has a world title to her name already and will be one to watch once the action gets underway.

While Truesdale has plenty of experience Kate Elay will be the youngest member of the team at just 16 years of age.

The event will be an opportunity for the athletes to accrue valuable ranking points in a bid to qualify for Tokyo 2020.

The History

The sport was introduced as a full member of the International Paralympic Committee in 2015 and is set to make its debut at Tokyo 2020.

This year’s competition is the seventh Para World Championships with the first taking place in 2009 in Baku, Azerbaijan while the 2015 edition saw 111 athletes competed from 37 countries.

The Championships will see a Kyorugi competition (or sparring) and Poomsae (a set of forms or attacking and defensive patterns) will also be part of the schedule.

What are the rules?

The World Championships will have athletes competing across four physical impairment classifications in the Kyorugi (sparring).

These are the classifications that will feature at the Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020 (K41, K42, K43 and K44). Find out more here.

Kicking to the head is not allowed in para-taekwondo and punching to the body is also not a valid scoring method – meaning kicks to the body are the primary source of points.

Bouts will consist of three two-minute rounds with golden point used is scores are tied at the end of the fight.

Spectators will also see the P20 (intellectual impairment) and P30 (motor impairment) classes in action in the Poomsae (patterns or forms) - though these classes will not be part of the Paralympic programme for Tokyo 2020.

The Schedule

The Championships take place at London’s Copper Box Arena on September 19 and will begin at 9am and run through the day and evening, finishing at 9pm.